Who is Albania trading with the most? The US, Kosovo and Greece gain ground on the export map
Albanian exports are increasingly finding space outside traditional European markets, foreign trade data from INSTAT show. In the first seven months of the year, while sales abroad increased by 6.7%, exports to European Union countries fell by 1.1%, also affected by the weakening of trade with Italy and Spain.
In total, exports reached about 227 billion lek, up from 212.8 billion a year earlier. Italy remains the main destination, but exports to it fell by 3.1%, to 88.4 billion lek. As a result, the Italian market share decreased from about 42.9% to 38.9% of total exports.
On the other hand, Kosovo strengthened its second position, with exports increasing by 14.7%, to 23.5 billion lek. Greece recorded an even stronger increase of 21.5%, reaching 17.4 billion lek, while Germany expanded by 12.6%.
But the strongest movement comes from more distant markets. Exports to the United States increased by 137.4%, reaching 5.8 billion lek, while those to China expanded by 66.4%, to 9.4 billion lek. Turkey also recorded strong growth, with 47.4%.
On the other hand, Spain continued to lose ground. Exports to it fell by 37.1%, from 10.1 billion lek to around 6.4 billion, significantly reducing the weight of this market in Albanian exports.
The change is even more evident in the weight of the European Union. EU countries absorbed about 68.4% of Albanian exports, down from about 73.8% a year earlier, while exports to the rest of the world increased by about 29%.
China also continued to gain ground in imports, with a 22.9% increase, while purchases from the US expanded by 29.6%. In total, imports reached 536.2 billion lek, 4.2% more than a year earlier.
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